Transparency must go with tax dollars

Tuesday

Jul 15, 2014 at 12:01 AMJul 15, 2014 at 12:06 PM

‘We need transparency of salary information for all public schools — both traditional and charter schools,” Gov. Pat McCrory said last week, promising to veto a charter school reform bill if it arrived on his desk with a measure to erode that transparency measure.

The Daily News

‘We need transparency of salary information for all public schools — both traditional and charter schools,” Gov. Pat McCrory said last week, promising to veto a charter school reform bill if it arrived on his desk with a measure to erode that transparency measure.

And contrary to what usually happens, someone appears to be listening.

On Thursday, a day before Americans celebrated freedom, a key sponsor of the legislation backed off from his own bill. State Rep. Charles Jeter, R-Mecklenburg, who pushed to make names of charter-school employees private, told the Charlotte Observer he was withdrawing support from it.

And in a novel idea he called for state lawmakers, educators and . . . gasp, journalists, to get together and talk about the best way for the N.C. Public Records Law to be applied consistently to district schools and charters statewide. Jeter told the Observer that any proposals from those talks could be handled during the long session next year.

That’s a great start in handling a potentially sticky double standard involving charter schools, which are run with public money by private boards.

Where the legislature will go from here, though, is another issue.

Some lawmakers indicated after McCrory’s veto threat that they might back down on shielding school employees’ salaries and identities from public scrutiny.

“We have to be transparent,” said Sen. Jerry Tillman, a Randolph County Republican. “It’s public money is it not?” Tillman noted a difference from traditional public schools in which teacher pay isn’t based on merit, so that charter school teachers could face low morale if these numbers become public. “Transparency trumps morale,” he said.

On the other hand Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican supported the amendment, saying he was concerned that disclosing this information could “create a hostile work environment” at charter schools.

Some of the lawmakers who backed the measure say they were only concerned about individual teacher privacy, not trying to help schools conceal financial records. Count Jeter among them.

“My intent was better than it was apparently drafted,” Jeter said.

That may be true but all public school teachers in this state face the same rule. They should be aware of it when they sign on.

In addition to letting the public see how money is spent, keeping salary information public helps to prevent nepotism and discrimination. Inspecting open records can help detect abuses that do occur and would otherwise go unnoticed. Ultimately, it protects educators and the stability of educational organizations.

The governor needs credit for calling lawmakers’ bluff on this misguided bill. Legislators, who might have the votes to override a veto, deserve credit for rethinking their positions and backing down.

But it’s unfortunate that this idea of shielding records keeps surfacing. Lawmakers had indicated in March that they wouldn’t go in this direction, only to spring the amendment late last month.